STAR-BULLETIN / OCTOBER 2003 President Bush offers a wreath at the Arizona Memorial during his last visit to Hawaii. He will return on Nov. 20. CLICK FOR LARGE

President Bush to visit Oahu on stopover

No public events are planned for the overnight stay on his return from a trip to Asia

President Bush will visit Honolulu later this month as he returns from an eight-day trip to Asia.

Bush is scheduled to arrive in Honolulu on Nov. 20 and leave the next morning after having breakfast with soldiers stationed here.

Bush will also receive a briefing from the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, according to Albert Joaquin, U.S. Secret Service special agent-in-charge.

Bush leaves Nov. 21.

As a gesture of friendship to Russia, Air Force One will make a refueling stop in Moscow on its way to Southeast Asia, where Bush is attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in Hanoi, Vietnam.

"Southeast Asia is a region with an active al-Qaida-linked terrorist presence that we are working with partners to defeat," Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, said yesterday. "It is a region where serious transitional health challenges exist, including avian flu, and the U.S. is cooperating with regional nations to control these threats."

During the trip, Bush will discuss terrorism, bird flu, and trade and other issues with leaders of Vietnam and Indonesia.

When he arrives in Honolulu, Bush will stay at military quarters and is not expected to make any public appearances, Joaquin said.

Bush last visited Honolulu in October 2003, when he stopped for a fundraising event. At that time, he visited the Battleship Missouri, toured Pearl Harbor and held two fundraisers: a $10,000, invitation-only event at the Kahala Mandarin and a $2,000-a-ticket event at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Bush will meet with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and President Nguyen Minh Triet, an economic reformer who has pushed for his country's membership in the World Trade Organization.

After his brief stopover in Moscow, where he will be greeted at the airport by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife, Bush is traveling to Singapore to meet Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and President S.R. Nathan. Bush will give a speech at the National University of Singapore to highlight U.S.-Asian relations and discuss ways to work together to battle poverty, disease, terrorism and energy security.

During his trip, Bush also will meet with Australian Prime Minister John Howard, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan.